Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie will not attend Easter Sunday service

Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie will not attend the traditional Easter Sunday service with the Royal Family at Windsor.

It is understood that, with the agreement and understanding of the King, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s daughters have made ‘alternative plans for this Easter’.

Sources have stressed that they were very much part of the family Christmas at Sandringham and ‘will be seen’ at future family celebrations.

But under the current circumstances, as their father is investigated by police over allegations of misconduct in public office, permission has been sought and granted for them to stay away.

In what will be good news for royal fans, however, the Prince and Princess of Wales and their family are expected to join the King and Queen, along with other family members at St George’s Chapel.

Disgraced former Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson appeared at last year’s Easter Sunday service with other members of the Royal Family, including King Charles and Queen Camilla.

But there will be no such appearance from Andrew this year at the traditional Easter Matins service which takes place at the 15th-century chapel in Berkshire. 

Andrew is currently under police investigation for allegedly leaking secrets to paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein during his time in public office.

On Saturday, reports claimed the FBI investigated the former Duke over claims he sought young girls for sex during a taxpayer-funded royal tour. Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing. 

Next month, Andrew, 66, will move into Marsh Lodge, a five-bedroom bolthole shielded from public view by a 6ft fence.

He had a second-hand static caravan delivered to his current home a few days ago, which has been propped up on bricks in his back garden, bearing signs of moss.

The caravan – a £26,000 Willerby Meridian Lodge – was paid for using money his brother, King Charles, gave him for ‘living expenses’ and it will house his security detail as there is not enough space in his main Norfolk home.

The standard model is a two-bedroom unit that is also decidedly no-frills on the inside. With brown or grey carpets, vinyl flooring and faux-wood countertops throughout, it also features a compact kitchen with a metal sink and a small, grey-painted living area.

One source said: ‘Andrew uses it himself, would you believe, and what’s more shocking is, he likes it. He really is a changed man; he’s enjoyed sitting in the caravan. It’s novel for him.’

Another added: ‘People thought the caravan was for his staff, but he doesn’t really have any. The staff who work elsewhere at Sandringham already help out, but many are reluctant to live in.’

Despite the Epstein scandal which has engulfed their family, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie continue to have second homes inside King Charles’s palaces despite not being working royals – all thanks to a ‘rental deal’ struck by their father. 

The disgraced former Duke of York has been arrested, kicked out of Royal Lodge and has not had an office at Buckingham Palace for four years due to the Epstein scandal.

But he has also successfully pushed for his children to ‘retain a foothold’ in palaces belonging to his older brother, the King. 

As a consequence, Princess Beatrice still has an apartment in St James’s Palace, despite her main home being in the Cotswolds, it was said.

And Eugenie has Ivy Cottage, a three-bedroom property at Kensington Palace, which apparently serves as a ‘bolthole’ because she spends half the year living in Portugal.

It is highly unlikely that the siblings will be paying the market rates of between £15,000 and £19,000-a-month for homes in two of London’s most illustrious addresses.

Before moving to Sandringham a few weeks ago, Andrew was regularly seen horse riding around Windsor.

Charles finally kicked his brother out of Royal Lodge hours after he was seen smiling and waving at the public amid continued outrage over his links to Epstein.

Andrew was seen cheerily greeting members of the public as he rode his horse near Royal Lodge on January 31, and was then seen waving while at the wheel of his Range Rover two days later.

Insiders suggested the photographs may have been the ‘final straw’ in what has been a turbulent few months for the shamed former royal.

Meanwhile, councillors have stripped Sarah Ferguson of her Freedom of the City of York.

Ms Ferguson and her then-husband Andrew were given the honour as a wedding present when they visited York in 1987. 

Following the latest release of the Epstein files last month, Ms Ferguson’s ties to the paedophile financier were brought into question off the back of her disgraced ex-husband’s relations with him.

She was mentioned numerous times and emails suggest he had been bankrolling her for 15 years. In one 2009 email she is believed to have said to Epstein: ‘I urgently need 20,000 pounds ($27,521) for rent today.

‘The landlord has threatened to go to the newspapers if I don’t pay. Any brainwaves?’

In another gushing message, she appears to say ‘Just marry me’ after a string of compliments to the paedophile who had been convicted of soliciting sex from a minor the year before.